Folding fire-screen



No. 6l4,867. Patented Nov. 29, |898. J. HUFFMAN.

' FOLDING FIRE SCREEN.

(Application led Apr.y 20, 1898.

(No Model.) l

im nl! t lll vis NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.)

JOSHUA HUEEMAN, or NOAH, TENNESSEE.

FOLDING FIRE-SCREEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,867, dated November 29, 1898. Application led April 20, 1898. Serial No. 678,290. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern/: n

Be it known that I, JOSHUA HUFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Noah, in the county of Coffee and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Folding Fire-Screen, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in folding nre-screens.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of screens and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one adapted to Ybe arranged at the front of an open fireplace to prevent sparks or pieces of coal from being thrown out of the fire upon the iioor and capable of being compactly arranged in a folded condition above the iireplace when it is not in use. e

A further object of the invention is to provide a folding iire-screen which may beinstantly brought into operative position and which when in use willV be retained in position byits own weight in order to obviate the necessity of employing fastening devices to produce this result.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Figure l is a perspective view of a folding :fire-screen constructed in accordance with this invention and shown Yapplied to a ireplace, the screen being in operative position. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, the screen being folded.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures of the drawings.

l designates a folding rectangular screen composed of two leaves or sections 2 and 3, connected at their adjacent longitudinal edges by hinges 4, and the said screen l, which is designed to be mounted at the front of the fireplace, as illustrated in Fig. l of the accompanying drawings, is adapted to extend across the front of the fireplace to l prevent sparks and pieces of coal from being thrown out of the lire upon the floor, and it is also adapted, as shown in Fig. 2, to be folded and held above the fireplace and fold iiat against the wall above the same;

rlhe screen may be of an y desired size and may be composed of 'more than two sections, and the upper or inner section 2 is connected with the chimney or breast of the fireplace by hinges 4, preferably attached to the lower edge of a shield or plate 5, constructed of sheet metal or other suitable material and mounted on a mantel or other suitable support.

The shield 5, which is adapted to receive the sections of the -screen when the latter is folded, extends downward below the. breast of the chimney to increase the draft, and it is provided near its ends with outwardly-extending hooks 6, which support the screenin its folded position.

The screen in folding swings upward on the hinges 4a, the sections 2 and 3 breaking on the hinges 4, and the section 2 is provided at its ends adjacent to the hinges 4 with lateral projections 7 arranged to engage the out; wardly-extending hooks 6,whereby the screen is supported in its folded position'. The section 3 ofthe screen is provided at its ends with knobs or handles 8, extending outward and adapted to be readily grasped to enable the screen to be lifted oif thehooks and to be swung upward into engagement with the same. The handles or grips, which may'be of any suitable form, are preferably constructed of some material which is a non conductor of heat, or be otherwise arranged so that they will not become heated to any great extent while the screen is in use.

The invention has the following advantages: The folding screen, which is constructed of wire-gauze or other suitable material, does not materially interfere with the draft, and when it is not in use it is compactly arranged over the fireplace in convenient position to be instantly dropped in front of the same. It is adapted to prevent sparks and pieces of coal from being thrown out of the iire upon the floor, and the shield, which is located above the fireplace, is adapted by extending downward, as shown, to increase the draft. The shield is also adapted to prevent the screen when in a heated condition from in-n juring the wall or a mantel.

Changes in the forni, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sac= IOO rificing any of the advantages of the invention.

l. A device of the class described comprising a supporting device designed to be arranged over an open fireplace, and a folding rectangular screen hinged at its upper horizontal edge at the top of the fireplace and composed of hinged sections arranged to fold fiat on each other, said screen being adapted to be swung upward and arranged fiat against the wall at the top of the fireplace and to be held in such position by the said supporting device, substantially as described.

2. A device of the class described comprising a rectangular screen hinged at its upper edge at the top of a fireplace and composed of upper and lower rectangular sections hinged together at their adjacent horizontal edges and adapted to fold flat against each other, said screen being adapted to be swung upward and arranged fiat against the wall. at the top of the fireplace when the sections are folded, and means for retaining the screen in such folded position, substantially as described.

3. A device of the class described comprising a vertical plaie or shield designed to be mounted at the top of an open fireplace, a rectangular screen hinged at its upper edge to the plate or shield at the bottom thereof and composed of hinged leaves or sections arranged to fold flat against each other, said screen being adapted to swing upward fiat against the plate or shield when the sections or leaves are folded, and means for securing the screen in its folded posi tion, substantially as described.

i. A device of the class described comprising a screen hinged at its upper edge to the top of the fireplace and composed of upper and lower sections hinged together at their adjacent edges, the lower section being adapted to fold flat against the upper section and the screen being adapted to fold flat against the wall at the top of the fireplace when the sections are folded, hooks located above the screen at opposite sides thereof and forming supports, and projections 7 extending from the ends of the upper section of the screen and arranged to engage the hooks, whereby the screen is maintained in its folded position, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSHUA IIUFFMAN.

Witnesses:

JNO. W. S'rEPHnXs, J. M. LASATER. 

